From Rock Bottom to Redemption: How Fire Can Forge Your Miracle | Travis Hearn

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Candy Valentino Show
Episode: From Rock Bottom to Redemption: How Fire Can Forge Your Miracle | Travis Hearn
Release Date: March 10, 2025

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Introduction to Travis Hearn

In this poignant episode of The Candy Valentino Show, host Candy Valentino welcomes Travis Hearn, a dedicated chaplain for the Arizona Suns and Cardinals, and a seasoned pastor at Impact Church in Phoenix, Arizona. Travis brings a wealth of personal experience and spiritual insight, sharing his transformative journey from personal turmoil to redemption and his mission to inspire others through his book, The Fire is for You.

Travis’s Journey: From Struggles to Faith

[02:37] Travis opens up about his tumultuous past, revealing a life marked by rebellion, substance abuse, and family instability. He shares, “I became a Christian after getting a DUI, getting arrested, put in jail as a senior in high school.” His candid recounting of witnessing his mother’s divorces, relatives dying from drug overdoses, and his own battles with alcoholism paints a vivid picture of the hardships he faced.

Travis Hearn [03:18]: "Life is hard. Jesus said in Matthew 5:45, it rains on the just and it rains on the unjust. Like, in other words, bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people."

Travis emphasizes that these struggles are universal, transcending generational lines, and highlights the biblical analogies of storms, fires, and valleys as metaphors for life’s trials.

The Birth of The Fire is for You

[07:15] The conversation shifts to Travis’s book, The Fire is for You, which delves into how personal trials can lead to profound personal transformation. He describes the book as a guide to turning pain and hardship into purposeful living, encouraging readers to embrace their struggles as catalysts for growth.

Travis Hearn [07:53]: "When you're at rock bottom, and there's nothing humanly, human strength that you can do to fix a situation, you're like, okay, God. And thank God He meets us at rock bottom."

A Life-Altering Trial: Overcoming a Massive Stroke

[07:53] Travis shares the harrowing experience of suffering a brain aneurysm and a massive hemorrhagic stroke. This life-threatening event left him with severe physical and cognitive impairments, and doctors were uncertain about his survival and recovery.

Travis Hearn [07:53]: "Two years ago, I suffered a brain aneurysm, a massive brain bleed, a hemorrhagic stroke in the basal ganglia... they told Natalie, 'We just want to warn you, the effects of this particular stroke are irreversible.'"

Despite grim medical prognoses, Travis credits his unwavering faith in God as the cornerstone of his miraculous recovery. His wife, Natalie, played a pivotal role, turning to scripture and maintaining hope throughout his ordeal.

Faith and Miracles: The Power of Divine Intervention

[09:52] Travis discusses his belief that God does not punish but rather allows trials to refine and strengthen individuals. He narrates a series of seemingly miraculous events following his stroke, including the unexpected success of his church’s worship team’s first song, He Is the Miracle, which soared to number one on the iTunes charts immediately after his hospital discharge.

Travis Hearn [09:52]: "Then on Sunday afternoon, our song He Is the Miracle charted on the iTunes charts all the way to number one, which is unheard of."

He interprets these events as affirmations of his faith and divine support, even in moments of profound vulnerability.

Transforming Trials into Triumphs

[20:16] The dialogue delves deeper into the concept of turning suffering into a powerful life message. Travis encourages embracing pain not to be broken by it but to let it shape and inspire personal growth and service to others.

Travis Hearn [20:16]: "True living comes from giving. If I can tell my story and it saves one man, one human, one woman from getting arrested, getting a DUI... then I didn't waste it."

Travis emphasizes that sharing one's testimony can be a beacon of hope for others facing similar hardships, underscoring the communal aspect of healing and support.

The Philosophy of Giving Over Receiving

[34:22] A significant portion of the episode focuses on the importance of generosity. Travis argues that true fulfillment and joy stem from giving rather than accumulating wealth or possessions. He contrasts fleeting pleasures with the lasting satisfaction that comes from selflessness and helping others.

Travis Hearn [34:22]: "Let's fail our way to the top. Failure is just a part of life. If we can look at failure as a pathway to success, then the lessons we learn are invaluable."

He critiques the modern pursuit of material success, likening it to a destructive process that ultimately leads to emptiness, much like the Dead Sea's inability to support life due to its extreme salinity.

Overcoming Personal Failures and Encouraging Resilience

[34:28] Travis discusses how personal failures, whether due to poor decisions or unforeseen circumstances, serve as opportunities for growth. He advocates for resilience and viewing each setback as a stepping stone toward greater purpose and achievement.

Travis Hearn [34:28]: "What do you do? You blow it, you lose your money, your business fails... What’s the next right move? Let’s fail our way to the top."

He shares his own approach to handling failures by continuously striving and learning, highlighting that perseverance is key to overcoming adversity.

Navigating Wealth without Losing Fulfillment

[48:21] The conversation shifts to the relationship between wealth and personal fulfillment. Travis references the book of Ecclesiastes to illustrate the emptiness that can accompany material success without a deeper sense of purpose.

Travis Hearn [48:21]: "We're looking for purpose in success, we're trying to find purpose in wealth... we're licking the knife blade, and eventually, we realize, like, this is all just leading to death."

He advocates for using wealth as a tool for good, emphasizing generosity and the positive impact one can have on others' lives as sources of true prosperity and happiness.

Stories of Hope and Redemption

[63:05] Travis shares impactful stories that underscore his message of hope and redemption. He recounts a memorable flight encounter with a man nicknamed "Crocodile," whose life story and transformation highlighted the importance of sharing one's own struggles to inspire and uplift others.

Travis Hearn [63:05]: "There are people out there that just need to hear that you're not as broken as you think, and they're just like, I see you, I hear you..."

These narratives serve to illustrate the transformative power of empathy, understanding, and the willingness to support others through their darkest moments.

Final Thoughts: Embracing Purpose Through Giving

[78:56] As the episode draws to a close, Travis reinforces the central theme that true living and fulfillment are achieved through giving. He urges listeners to leverage their experiences, be it time, talents, or treasures, to serve others and build a legacy of hope and resilience.

Travis Hearn [78:56]: "True living comes from giving. It's about meeting the needs of people... it's about pour yourself out, and God supernaturally fills it back up."

He concludes with a powerful testament to his faith and mission, encouraging everyone to embrace their stories as instruments of divine purpose and communal upliftment.

Conclusion

Travis Hearn's episode on The Candy Valentino Show is a compelling exploration of faith, resilience, and the profound impact of transforming personal trials into sources of inspiration and support for others. His candid storytelling and unwavering belief in divine purpose provide listeners with valuable insights into overcoming adversity and finding true fulfillment through generosity and service.

Key Quotes:

• Travis Hearn [03:18]: "Life is hard. Jesus said in Matthew 5:45, it rains on the just and it rains on the unjust."

• Travis Hearn [07:53]: "When you're at rock bottom, and there's nothing humanly, human strength that you can do to fix a situation, you're like, okay, God."

• Travis Hearn [20:16]: "True living comes from giving. If I can tell my story and it saves one man, one human, one woman from getting arrested, getting a DUI... then I didn't waste it."

• Travis Hearn [48:21]: "We're looking for purpose in success, we're trying to find purpose in wealth... we're licking the knife blade, and eventually, we realize, like, this is all just leading to death."

• Travis Hearn [78:56]: "True living comes from giving. It's about meeting the needs of people... it's about pouring yourself out, and God supernaturally fills it back up."

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For more insights and to delve deeper into Travis Hearn’s transformative journey, listeners are encouraged to read his book, The Fire is for You, available on Amazon and other major book retailers.

Transcript

[Candy Valentino]

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[Travis Hearn]

I can say to my new Samsung.

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Finger so I can get in more squats anywhere I can. 1, 2, 3. Will that be cash or credit? Credit. 4 Galaxy S25 Ultra the AI companion that does the heavy lifting so you can do. You get [e-mail] compatible with select apps. Requires Google Gemini account. Results may vary based on input. Check responses for accuracy. Welcome to the Candy Valentino show, the podcast for founders, investors and entrepreneurs where we have honest conversations about what it takes to grow your business, build more wealth and create financial freedom.

Hey guys, welcome back to another episode of the show. Thanks for tuning in with me today. I am really honored and glad that you are tuning into this one because this is going to be a phenomenal podcast. I already know it and if you notice, I'm not in my studio, I'm in Phoenix, Arizona. I feel like I'm back home, but I get to interview someone who I think is going to have a massive impact on every single person that listens and watches this. He is not only the chaplain for the Arizona Suns, the Phoenix Suns, the Arizona Cardinals, but he has had mentored and coached and pastored so many people in the space. He has a massive church here that I am an honor to be a member of, Impact Church. And so today we want to talk about the story and why he developed this book, wrote this book, the Fire Is for your and you see all of my notes here. I read this cover to cover. I cannot recommend it more. Thank you Travis Hearn for being here today.

Thank you for having me. And what a great intro. That's great. I'm gonna hire you just to do intros.

I botched that a little bit but I wanted to make sure that we talk about this book. And so typically on the show I like to give people value right away and then we're gonna get into the story of behind the Book. So for someone listening, they See, they could have already heard the word pastor, and they're like, oh, gosh, what am I in for? Right? And so I wanna share a little bit about listening. They're going through a struggle, they're going through a challenge, and they're thinking, you know what? I don't think he's going to understand what I am going through. Can you speak to the heart of that person for just a moment that's going through something right now?

I mean, absolutely. I think, first of all, we, we, we. Life is hard. Life is hard. Jesus said in Matthew 5:45, he said, it rains on the just and it rains on the unjust. Like, in other words, bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people. I mean, this is life. This is earth. I didn't grow up in church. I've been through a lot of hell. I became a Christian after getting a dui, getting arrested, put in jail as a senior in high school. That was my journey. I wasn't a church goer. I wasn't a church kid. Partied all through my childhood years and drinking and smoking weed and whatever else I could find to do that was just wild and fun and rebellious and been through a man. My. My mom went through several divorces. I've saw a lot of hardship. I saw a lot alcoholism, a lot of drug addiction. My mom's two sisters both died of. Of drug overdoses. One heroin overdose. My cousin died of a heroin overdose. I've got family members still addicted to. To drugs, functional fentanyl, some others. I mean, it's that, like, my, My. You just said pastor and, like, made something up. Like, this was like, this. The. I'm so cool and successful. My family is like a Jerry Springer show. That's what my family is like. And, you know, it's like, Jerry. Jerry. Like, that's my family. And same with my wife. I mean, when I met Natalie, she had given her life to the Lord, but she had come out of being a crystal meth addict. I mean, like, we've been through stuff. And so I would say for those today that are going through stuff, hell, you know, storms, fires, trials, valleys of the shadows of death. Is that. That. That. That th. That those are really working in your behalf and making you everything God wants you to become? It's like the. It's like the transformation from the caterpillar to the butterfly. You know, it's. There's a process and you got to go through it. And. Which is the reason for the title of that book is the Fire is for you is because I think we all go through fires and tough times and challenges, and the Bible really uses three major analogies for that, for trial. It uses storms, we're going through the storms of life. It uses fires, we're going through fires, and it uses valleys. And I think about David when he said, even though I walked through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil in Psalm 23:3. And I love that because, like, David was a shepherd. And, you know, I relate to David because he. He. I relate to Paul as well in the New Testament because they. They were flawed humans who love God, and God had a lot of grace on them and a lot of mercy on them. But. But David said, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, right? And I think that word shadow is key. In other words, it's just a shadow. It's not really. The valley of death would be a different location than the valley of the shadow of death. And when I think of shadows, I think of a couple things. I think of shadows are always bigger than reality, and shadows are. They've never hurt anybody. You know, and then the third thing is anywhere there's a shadow, there's a light. And if you turn and look into the light, the shadow falls directly behind you. And. And. And Jesus said in John 8, 8:32, he said, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but. But have. But have the light of life. And so I. I think for me, from my own experience, it's like, man, I've been through a lot, and I have found and maintained my hope by just. By just sticking close, as close as I know how to. To close to God.

Mm. And you talked about that's so good trial. And I think there's so many times people are going through health trials, financial trials, family trial, like, all of the different things, and when you're in it, it's so hard to maybe see that light. And you obviously went through something. I'm going to read a little section from your book. You said, my body was broken, my emotions were wrecked, my spirit was crushed, and my state of mind was destroyed. I was at rock bottom. And I think that can resonate with a lot of people through various things that have gone on in their life. Can you share what caused you to write those words?

Yeah, the two. Two years ago. A little over two years ago, I suffered a brain aneurysm, a massive brain bleed, a hemorrhagic stroke in the basal ganglia. Area of my brain. It was the mother of trials. I lost my speech, my cognition, my motor skills, my memory. I became a vegetable. I helicopter. I was ambulanced to one hospital. Then. Then they did the brain scan and they had to helicopter me to a level one trauma center. They. They told my wife, you know, there are strokes and. And then there's. This is the mother of all strokes. And because of this particular bleed and where it is, the. The basal ganglia area is like the brain stem, the top of the brain stem. They. They told Natalie, we. We just want to warn you, the effects of this particular stroke are irreversible. And so, you know, when you hear that, like you're. They're the doctor who is all they know, the. The human brain and their experts in. In this. They're telling my wife, this is your future husband. If. If he lives. If he lives, he's going to be. I mean, it wasn't my. It wasn't that I lost my speech a little bit. I lost it. Gone. Completely gone. Same with my memory. So, you know, eventually I found, you know, God did a miracle and all those things, and that's why that part's written in there. It's like when you're at rock bottom, and there's lots of ways we get there. You know, when you. You know, when you've got nothing else, there's nothing human, humanly, in your human strength that you can do to fix a situation. You're like, okay, God. And thank God he meets us at rock bottom. He. He. He meets us at rock bottom. So if somebody's at rock bottom today, I got news for you. God meets us at rock bottom. He's done it for me and everybody.

That I know, you know, and you said something. I think this is why this is so important, the rock bottom moment that he meets you there, because someone could look at your story and say, okay, you and your wife, obviously, all these things you did, dui, she was on drugs. Like, all of this stuff happened. And then you found God and you've literally given your life to the mission of getting more people saved, getting more people into heaven. I think you said your mission statement is, if I can quote, it is to help more people on earth avoid hell. Is that. Is that summit?

Yeah. I mean, I. Yeah, I'm weird like that because I have like, you know, everybody. I think every business should have a mission statement. Every church should have a mission or a vision statement, a purpose statement. I have one for my own life. And it's just that more people Go to heaven when they die, and less people will go through hell while they live. And I think Jesus affords us that. He gives us that. And so, yeah, I gave my life to it. You know, it's one of those things where when I got saved and gave my life to Jesus, I mean, I got arrested, put in jail. Like, I was, you know, I was a great athlete as a high school, I was a quarterback and a point guard and it was an all state basketball and quarterback. And when you hit rock bottom, none of that matters. Like, none. You, you realize in a hurry, like, all this stuff is super, super superficial and does not matter. And so I really had this defining moment. Like, and I think we all go through these at different times in our life. Here's this crossroad, right? Which way am I going to go? I'm at a crossroad. Which way am I going to stay this way? Or am I gonna. Am I gonna go this way? Am I gonna turn left? I'm gonna turn right? For me, it was like, I. I didn't grow up in church. I was a little bit skeptical of church. I didn't believe in God. I would say this, I would be like, in the house because my mom was pretty on fire for the Lord during high school when I wasn't. And I'd be like, okay, God, if you're real, turn the lights on. And the lights never came on. And I'm like, see, that's what I'm saying, dude, I don't believe in you. And so, like, you know, I think when I, when I gave my life to Christ, Candy was just so real. It wasn't a. I mean, everybody was betting against me. Everybody. My friends, coaches, parents, everybody's like, oh, he'll be back out partying before the end of the summer. And I never did. And it just was like, God did something so real in me, so fresh, so new, so powerful, so impactful, that I wanted what God gave me. I wanted to give that to my buddies and my friends. And so that's how it started because people will ask me all the time, when did you get called to ministry? And I'm like, I don't know if I ever did. I really don't. Like, I've got all these pastor friends across the world that they're like, I was at camp and God called me and I had this moment and I'm like, I don't know if that happened. I don't know if I'm still called to ministry. All I know is God. It's like, one. A sick guy who finds a physician who wants to tell all the other sick dudes about the. The. The physician, the great physician, you know, so. So that was a pivotal moment in my life. I thought I was going to play college basketball, you know, end up going to. To. To. To Bible school, to. To. To learn the Bible, not to go to. In the ministry. But I was just like, dude, I want to learn the Bible. And two months after I gave my life to Christ, we had a missionary come through, and he was like. He was like, hey, we're looking for people to go on this missions trip to Mazatlan, Mexico, you know, And I just felt like. I don't know if you ever felt like this, but I felt like the spotlight was on me, like I'm supposed to go on this for sure. So I signed up, raised my money, you know, I started doing the training sessions. And then. And then I got this. This packet in the mail from the Arizona Interscholastic association, which is. They're the organization that governs all of Arizona high school sports. It was a congratulatory packet that you made your. Your. The Arizona High School All Star team for the west for basketball. Like, 12 kids make that, right? I was like, yes, I've been going to this every year, watching it. I wanted to play in it one day. And I flipped the packet to the next page, and it's the exact same dates from beginning to end as this missions trip. What do I do with that? Another crossroad. So for me, I wanted to play in that. And I prayed through it, and I'm like, I'm going on this missions trip, and every parent, every dad, every coach, every. The AIA that I called them, everybody said, I'm crazy. The AIA said, hey, we. We commend you for, you know, your heart for missions. And. But isn't there 51 other weeks you could go on a missions trip? And I said, yeah, but God called me on this one. And, you know, I think that's why. What you started with being the chaplain of the Phoenix Suns for 23 years now. I think that's why I'm the chaplain. I think. I think I gave it up. And God gave something back to me even. Even greater than I could ever have imagined, you know, wow.

Wow. And I can't help but think. And again, I think anyone listening right now is like, okay, you did all that, and you were on fire in the beginning, and then God gave you great blessings because of it. And just two years ago, you almost Lost your life. Do you think that God does that to us? Is that a punishment? I think sometimes people think I'm sick or my child has this happening, and they're like, I'm being punished by God and I've done all of these things. Is that what actually happens?

I think that's a great question, and I don't see it that way. But I will say he allows some things to happen. I don't think God's up there going, I'm going to punish you and give you a stroke. I'm going to punish you and give you cancer. It's a broken world. Ever since Adam and Eve, we live in a fallen world. This is Earth. It's not. It's not heaven because of that. The. The. The byproducts of a fallen world and a sinful world and a world with disease and, and sickness and all these things. And, you know, I, I think, you know, I'm reminded of Job in the Bible where, you know, he's the wealthiest man on the planet. He's righteous, he's holy. He has a great family, great wife. And then the, the, the. The Bible talks about how the, the, you know, the devil's going to God. And like, yeah, of course, he's got life handed to him on a silver platter. Let me. Adam, you know, and God. And God's like, just don't touch him. And so God allowed that. God didn't do it, but he allowed it. Right? But why did he allow it? That's crazy. Like, so Job loses all of his children. His wife turns against him, says, you curse God and died. You must be living in sin. He wasn't. And, like. But, like, why? Great question. Like, why, like, why do bad things happen to good people? Why does a God, if he loves me so much, allow this in my life? And I just think it's because trials refine us. I think that you're never as close to Christ as when you're in the middle of a crisis. I think when we're going through hell, we draw closer to heaven. I think that our prayer lives are never as strong as when we're going through something. I think there's so many things in my life, I'm like, God, get me out of this. Like, God, fix this. God, get me out of this. And, and I think sometimes he's probably like, you know what? I haven't had this much attention from you, Travis, in a very long time. So I think I'm going to leave you in it for a little while. You Know, and, but, but what does it produce in us? What do the trials produce in us? And, and that's where I am. Like, I had a massive stroke. It came out of nowhere, out of nowhere. On Thursday, I was given an A plus health rating by a life insurance company. On Monday, I had a massive brain bleed. You know, talking about coming out of nowhere. On Friday, our church, Impact Church, our worship team, Impact Worship released their very first song ever produced. It's not written and recorded and produced into the world on all music platforms. This was November 11th of 2022. This is crazy. And that song was called he is the miracle. Right. It's the first song we've ever wrote, we didn't even know we were doing. Then on Sunday, I preach a sermon titled he is the miracle. And I preach with conviction that, hey, God still does modern day miracles and God can heal your marriage and raise your marriage back to life. God can heal your body. And that's a whole sermon. Right. Then on Sunday afternoon, our song he is the Miracle charted on the itunes charts all the way to number one, which is unheard of. We don't even know what we're doing. We've never done this before.

Wow.

Then on Monday, I needed the very miracle. I just told the world that God still does. Do I think that God gave me a stroke? No. Do I think that he allowed me to go through it? Yes. Because I think there's a responsibility that comes with pain and trauma and, and hardship and trial and that if we're really going to turn our trials into triumph, then it becomes our life message. My life message is this is part of it now. Yeah. One of them is I was arrested, I was put in jail for a dui. My life's message is don't drink, don't drive. Like I, I nothing in my whole family has good, has come out of alcohol or drugs. And I'm not saying people can't drink and whatever in moderation, but like for my family bloodline, nothing has ever come out of it. That's good, right? So my life message is like, I'm sober, I don't drink, I don't need it. Hey guys, life doesn't suck. I love my life. I'm not like, dude, I wish I could drink, I could, but like, I choose not to. And you know, the same with drug use and all those things. And so I think that if we allow pain, problems, purpose, trials, storms, fires, valleys, shadows, you know, to do what they're supposed to do, let it have its work in me, then it's going to make me become everything that God wants for me to become, that we would not become without those moments otherwise.

There's so much power there that I think everyone should pause and rewind and re listen to that. There is something about people who have been to the depths of it that have been broken, that have been at that breaking point. There's just a fire that's not only do they come out of, but that's just like ignites inside of them. And I think sometimes when we're suffering in it, we don't realize that there is a lesson or a message or something. And I think that on the other side of it, some people will listen to you and say, well, that's really, really great because you're on the other side of it. But my child's still an addict or I lost my dad or my spouse or whatever the situation may be. And it's like they get stuck in the suffering. Do you think God wants us to get stuck in the suffering? Is that why we have the fire? What is the. The lesson that you've learned because you've pastored so many people that have gone through things? Does God want us to suffer?

There's an element to God where God suffers because he loves us as his children. And to see if you're a parent, you know what this is like. When you see your child, you know, going the wrong way, that makes me suffer to some degree. When you have a grandchild, when your husband is, whatever, he's dealing with something, you suffer, you feel it, your wife, something's going, you know, you feel that that's your husband or, or God is Father God. So I think he feels that. You know, the subtitle of my book, the Fire is for you is in the flames of suffering, right? A miracle is forged, I think. I think miracles are always forged inside of the suffering. That that's where they happen. Otherwise we wouldn't need them. That miracles wouldn't exist if you didn't need a miracle. Like, so it's interesting to me because. And I'm not. I'm really not out of it. I mean, it's been a little bit over two years, but the whole right side of my body's still numb, right? So. So here's the. I guess here's what I would say is not why God, but what God, not why is this happening to me, but what are you wanting from me because of this? So for me, you know, you and I have talked so much off, offline that we're I think we're kind of geared and built from the same cloth, but, like, I'm a fighter. So it's like what I just told you. I just told you this story, but let's look at it in context. Impact Worship releases their first song called he is the Miracle. I preach a sermon called he is the Miracle. It goes to number one the very next day. I need the miracle that I just told the world that God does that feels. Feels. Now, don't think I'm crazy, but I am crazy. But that feels like a direct attack from the enemy, the devil. You can't tell me it doesn't feel like that because like that I am in great health. A plus health rating. He is the miracle song. He is the miracle sermon. I'm trying to encourage y'all that God still does miracles. And then, boom, I get hit, and I need this miracle. So now it's like putting your faith to the test, Putting my wife's faith to the test. This is your new husband. Be ready. Be prepared. The effects of this particular stroke are irreversible. So Natalie, being a woman of God, I don't know if I can remember what page, but I'm going to try my best on this. I found it right here. Natalie, you know, she goes, it's page 34. She's like, I'm not going to buy what the doctor. We love doctors, y'all. If you're doctors, we love you. You're experts in your field, but, like, you're a physician. But, like, he's the great physician. So, like, Natalie's is. You got to be careful whose voice you listen to in life, period. So your own voice can deceive you. The devil's voice, your friend's voice, experts voices, God's voice. He has the final word. So whatever situation somebody's going through, it's like, draw close to God. Let this trial bring you closer to him. Let this trial get you back in church. Let this trial get you, ease you back into the word of God or whatever. Let it build you, not break you. And then Natalie goes straight to the Word right after the doctor says that, she goes straight to the word, straight to the Bible, Lord, I need something. And she goes. He takes her to Acts 3:16 by faith in the name of Jesus. This man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him. As you can all see. As you can all see, like, I'm healed, right? So the crazy thing to me is, like, when you talk about purpose of trial or pain, I think it's a test to grow us. But also, like, what are you gonna do with that? What's Candy gonna do with the hell she went through? Bury it. That does nothing. Well, I'm a fighter, so I'm gonna tell the whole freaking world about it because there's people that are going through. It says in Jonah, remember the story of Jonah? Jonah is called God. Says, I need you to go to Nineveh and preach the gospel. Right? They're wild. They're rebuilt. And by the way, Nineveh is. Is would be like modern day Isis. Like, they're skinning believers in God alive. They're burning them alive. They're sawing their bodies in half. It's even the same territorial area. Yeah. So Nineveh, he goes, I want you. And Jonah's like, heck, no. Like, I'm not going. Like, those people could kill me. So what does he do? He. He pays money. He boards a ship to go the opposite way to. To sail to Tarshish, right? So. So he actually pays money to run from God. He actually goes, I'm invested in running from God, right? Now. He gets on the boat, and what happens? A great storm comes. The storm's so violent that everybody on the ship's freaking out. And they. They go to Jonah, like, dude. And Jonah's like, it's because of me. He's like, throw me overboard. It's me. I'm running from God. Are you sure, man? Yeah. Like, they're like, okay, throw him overboard. Well, we know this story. The big fish fall. He's in the belly of the fish for three days, three nights. But in Jonah, chapter two, verse one, it says, from inside the belly of the well, Jonah prayed. That's the point. Inside the belly of the. When I'm at rock bottom, I'm inside the belly of the well. It's. It's God. You got my attention. You. God often knocks you flat on your back in order to get you to look up at him so good. Like, inside the belly of the well, Jonah prayed. I always think about, like, that's crazy. How. How crazy would that be? Like, I'm inside the belly, and. And then what happens in that story is three days, three nights, which is symbolic of Jesus being buried. Three days, three nights. And Jesus is our rescuer and our savior. So. So that fizz, you know, supernaturally spits Jonah out on the shores of Nineveh. And then Jonah preaches, and a great revival happens. So why did he have to go on the Valley was that. Did God go, I'm gonna put you like, no. We made a decision. Our decisions have consequences. Oftentimes my decisions have consequences for your life. If I do something, it's going to have a domino effect on other people. Something that can be generational. That can be, you know, that can be. It can be drugs. It can be food. It can be mindsets. It can be negativity. It can be judgmental. It can be criticism. It can be fear. A little girl can grow up and she's afraid and always lives in fear and sees life through the eyes of fear because her mom lived that way. Like, those kind of things that. So. So we have to choose. And what I mean by we're cut from the same cloth is it's like we've both been through a lot of hell, but I'm gonna. I'm gonna let it build me, not break me. Like, let's go. Oh, that's what we're doing. The enemy attacked me, Tried to take my life out. Try to take my wife's husband. Try to take my children's daddy. Try to take my church's pastor. Right. Try to take Phoenix Sons. Okay, that's what we're doing. All right. Gloves are on now. And I'm gonna let the whole world know until I'm dead. I'm gonna tell the story because it's a story of hope. And it's not my story. You said it earlier, but it's his story. I say it like this. It's a story about God's glory. I'm just the actor in the story. But this is about giving him glory, him praise. And I think that's the greatest place to do it. From pain, trauma. So my. The whole right side of my body, it's still numb. You know, God healed me. I also went through a lot of therapy.

Yeah.

I mean, six months, five, six days a week, six different therapy sessions. You know, speech therapy, cognition therapy, motor skills therapy. I mean, I was doing everything. Red light hyperbarics and every. Any kind of therapy that would help me. I was like, yes. Yeah. Well, actually, my wife was like, yes, you're doing that one, too. But, you know. Yeah, I. I think that that's the heart of this book is the fires for. Because I know there's so many people listening, watching that they're going through fires. And they do, man, they feel like they are going to burn you down to ashes. But in Isaiah, it says that he gives beauty for ashes. Isn't that awesome? Like, he Gives beauty for ashes. And I believe that, that, that if. If we steward pain correctly, we're gonna see beauty in the ashes. Proverbs says, a longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul. You know, the day that that addiction gets broken, sweet to the soul. The day that prodigal child comes home, sweet to the soul. The day I get healing, sweet to the soul. And I also think we can do things like we're believing in God. I believe in God, but there's things you need to do as a human, you know. So I went from. I was in great shape with the eight plus health rating, but I ate whatever I wanted to eat until the stroke. And then it was like, okay, that's what we're doing then. Then it's on. And my doctor, a good friend of ours who goes to our church, she's like, hey, can you go straight carnivore? And I was like, I'll do whatever you tell me to do. And she's like, well, the brain gets very little blood flow to it. So first of all, you know, you need to be working out physical therapy. That's how it started. And, but, but second of all, we want to get your body's inflammation down as absolute fast as possible. And, and as, you know, as bedrock bottom as possible. So carbs are inflammatory, all of them. We kid ourselves and go, there's clean carbs, healthy carbs. They're all inflammatory. So her point was, if we can get your brain's inflammation to go down, it's going to give it the best chance to heal fully. So I went straight carnivore. I mean, two. Two straight years, I, you know, I don't know if I ate a gram of carbs. If I did someone slip one in on me or something.

Without you knowing?

Without me knowing. But, like, you know, same with every. I used to drink the sugary coffees and like, you know, I'm human. Give me some syrup in that thing. Give me some sugar.

Make it taste good.

Yeah. And so for, you know, since that. Since that hospital, I have black coffee only, and I drink a coffee. Which you had some.

I did.

It was amazing. It's called purified that we, we. We cook it up at home and it's clean and you can only do the hydro water. But it's been a journey. And I think if we steward pain, well, it's like, it wakes us up. And I think we fall to sleep in life and it's like, okay, I'm gonna wake up. And I think that in Romans 8, 28, he talks about how God works all things together for the good of those who love him and are called by his purpose. Well, it's like, works for the good doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be good.

Right.

You know, there's, there's all these dominoes. If I have to go through this and it helps somebody 300 years from now, then it's working it out for good. If I wouldn't have made it and I would have passed away, I got to trust God that it's working it out for the good. Hey, hey, listen. This is one thing I've been through in two years. My, my 12 year old nephew died three months later from, from the stroke. My mom's husband, my, my stepfather who's been, He's a man of God, worked for his church. Good dude, man. They were married 23 years. He got an aggressive cancer this last year and, and he passed away within months. Life is hard, but I believe if we steward the, the, the, the trauma, well, the pain, well, it'll work for us and not against us.

Yeah. And you said something. There's two different angles I want to go because I don't want to miss this. For everyone listening, often the pain, the fire is happening to you, right? Like we'll say, for example, with your stroke, it wasn't like there was things that you were necessarily choosing or doing or decisions that you were making. Whoosh. This just happened to you. And now you have to try to figure out where the blessing is, how to get through it, how to listen to what you just said to tens of thousands of people about the miracle. But there's another part where I think sometimes we make decisions that cause pain, whether for ourselves or for our families. And sometimes I've often called it the slow fade, right? It's like the one decision, the one little thing that we do that then somehow snowballs into these big painful situations that we don't know how to get out of. So the person that's maybe listening is like, look, it wasn't a stroke, but I made this bad decision with money or I made this bad decision with doing drugs or the wrong people. How do you ever get out of that situation and learn through that? Because that's a whole other kind of fire. You know, I, for myself, I can tell you, I always say that I don't learn through all of the wins, like all of the big wins that I had in life and in, in business and in investing. I didn't learn from those things. I learned from the ones I made the bad decision.

Yeah.

How do you help people through that? Or how can they get out of the fire more quickly than suffering in it?

I think. I don't know if, If. If this, you know, would resonate with. With people, but this is what I think. I think that the fire, it. It might happen to you, but it's supposed. It's supposed to go through you. It's. There's. Again, going back to the purpose. There's a bigger purpose. I. I think we've all done this. We've all had hardship that we caused. We've all had hardship that somebody else caused. We've put people through hell. People put us through hell. We've done people dirty. People have done us dirty. We made a bad decision. It affected other people. They made a bad decision. It affected me. We all probably have this all going on simultaneously at the same time. I think, what's the next right move? So wherever I am now, it's like, dude, what did I do? I blew it. I lost all my money. I tried this business thing. It failed. What I say with our church is, I say, let's fall to the top. Let's fail our way to the top. Let's fail our way into success. That's okay. What do you mean? We always. We fail. Great. Let's go again. We fail. Let's go again. Great. Let's fail. Like, fail your way to the top. My relationship, man, I thought I was gonna be married forever, ended in divorce. Okay, well, welcome to humanity, man. Like, marriage is tough stuff. Relationships, you know, Natalie and I have been married 27 years. We're pastors. Hey, we'd both tell you marriage is tough stuff. Like, and watching my mom, you know, go through divorces and things, like, man, failure is just a part of life. But if we can look at failure as a. Is a. Is a pathway to success. I, I. You're right. Me too. I learned so much more from all my failures. And everybody wants to talk about everything they're good at and what they've done well and how to. Like, if you just do these three easy steps, you'll be like, that's just crap. Like, let. Let's start talking about failures. Because the things that we learn through those, they. They also scream in my own soul louder than the successes. The failures do. They're like. Like, you blew that, dude. Or you. You know, and. And often, too, I want to say this. Let me. Let me flip this upside down. There are people that you. You might be God's chosen one. And because of that, people around you get affected and targeted. Like, like for example, Jesus's close friend was a guy named Lazarus. Lazarus died. Jesus raised him back from the dead. And then the Bible says that, that the people wanted to kill Lazarus. Why? Wasn't because of Lazarus, it was because of Jesus. So Lazarus got a target on his back because Jesus was who he said he was, right? And thinking about that for a minute because it's like maybe, maybe, maybe you're God. You're set apart by God for God. And, and then you, you know, people around you are going through stuff simply because that, that mantle is so heavy on your life. You know, I would pray Psalm 91 over you. If you don't know Psalm 91, read it. It's short and sweet, but it's a psalm of protection. But he talks about, you know, David goes 10,000 may fall at my side, but it won't it. But it won't touch you. 10,000 may fall at your side, won't touch you. That's a crazy thought, you know. But going back to your specific question, I think that if we're in a situation where we what makes a leader?

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[Travis Hearn]

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You've made the choice we've made. There's an old saying, you know, you make your choices and your choices make you. So we gotta live with it. There's consequences, man, but we all have consequences to our choices. The consequences might be hard, but I think they can teach us. Solomon said, sometimes it takes a painful situation to make us change our ways.

I wish it wasn't that way.

Well, well, and if I wrote that, I would say every time, like, right, right.

But yeah, and I think that, you know, it's interesting because I work with a lot of successful entrepreneurs and people who have built wealth and I also see this commonality which you've worked with, obviously super successful athletes and people as well. But it's almost like there's this new age of thinking, for lack of a better word, that it's, it's us, right? Like you had said, like, you also have to do your part. I think there's a lot of times where that can almost become a negative, where then we think it's all us and that God isn't working through us and that every win is ours and every loss is an attack. And I hear this stuff where people are like, well, you got to, you know, meditate and set the intention and see what it is that you want and all of this stuff. But it always comes back to like, it's, it's you, like the people, like you're doing it. Do you think that if the enemy is like attacking or can attack other people around us, that when the enemy sees that we're gonna do some big stuff and that we've got a bright light that not only does the enemy attack us, but sends other people to try to dim that light, to try to minimize what it is that we can accomplish. Or is that just something I've made up in my own mind?

No, that's exactly right. I mean, we see that throughout Scripture, but, I mean, we see it out throughout humanity as well. And I think, you know, we live in a world of good versus evil. And, you know, if we could, I mean, according to the Bible, if we were to put on, you know, for example, in Ephesians 6, where it says we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and the powers and the rulers of the darkness of this world. In other words, the devil, demons. Well, if you could put on, you know, spiritual goggles and you could see what was going on. Angels and demons in warfare over your soul, your purpose, your marriage, your family, your. Your calling. That's real. That might seem crazy, but that's real. It, it. It. In the most elementary sense. It's the old Tom and Jerry cartoon. We got a little devil, you know, above your shoulder and a little angel. He's like, do it. And the angel's like, don't do it. Like, do it. Don't do it. But the reality of that, and I think it's not something to be afraid of, but it's something to be aware of. And when you're talking about, you know, you know, new, New age, this, that, and I don't know anything about that. All I know is about the Bible. All I know is the Bible has changed my life. God's word has changed my life. I. We don't take credit for anything. We give him the credit. We give him the glory. You know, by the way, meditation is a Bible word. It's not a New Age word. It's a Bible word all the way back from Joshua 1, chapter 8, where Joshua is the new leader. Moses just died short of the promised land. Joshua is the new leader. And God's encouraging Joshua in chapter one of Joshua. Then he's saying, be strong and courageous. Tells him three times in the first nine verses, like, Joshua, you got this, buddy. Like, be strong and courageous. Be strong and courageous. Be very strong, courageous. Then in verse eight, he says, you know, meditate on the Lord day and night. Then you will be prosperous and successful. So how are we prosperous? What's real prosperity and success? So, yeah, I pastor athletes, celebrities, people, you know, but I also. We're in Scottsdale, Arizona. I mean, this is the business hub of the world, basically, or at least one of them. A lot of people with a lot of money, a lot of wealth who are super broken and not fulfilled, and they're not prosperous. They might have money, but they're not prosperous. You might have wealth, but that. That's not prosperity. Prosperity is. Is peace and. And true peace. Not. You can't per. This is the thing. If somebody. When. When I first started in. In pro sports, and I. I, you know, I did a chapel, and I'm starstruck. I'm 25 or whatever I was. And I'm like. Like, when I started in the NBA, Shaq and Kobe were teammates.

Oh, wow.

For the Lakers. I remember the first time seeing them in the hallway, and I got around the corner, I called Natalie, and I'm like, oh, my gosh. Like, first of all, this man is huge. Like, his leg is as big as my body. Like, I said that. And eventually got to know Shaq because he became a Phoenix sun. But at first, I'm starstruck. Then within a few games, there was an athlete. I would never name the name, but there was an athlete that walked in. He's bawling, and it's like, you got to play a game here in a few minutes, man. I need to talk. Like, I've done some really bad things. He starts telling me the things that he's done. And there were bad things, right? That was when the starstruck went away. That was when it was like, dude, these people are human. You cut them, they bleed. They have emotions, they have pain, they have suffering, right? Same with the business owner. And. And the higher you go, the more lonely it feels. The. The. The. The. The. The bigger, you know, the. The. The bigger. Whatever bigger is whether you're a church and a pastor, whether you're a business owner, whether you're influencer, and, you know, your world gets pretty lonely. But the reality is. And it. It doesn't only get lonely if you want to talk about wealth. You start feeling like everybody wants what you got. So then you get jaded because you start going like this. Like, what does he want? Is this relationship real? Is it fake? Is they. They want something? And. And that's. That's where I've allowed myself. I'm. I'm coming out of that. But I've been jaded for a long time because, like, well, what do they want? They're using me. They're making. Taking advantage of me. So I think when we look at that verse Meditate. What is meditation? Meditation is simply focused thinking. That's all it is. It's not like some weird, freaky, you know, we go up to Sedona, Arizona, and like. Like it's. It's just focused thinking. Meditate on the Lord, on his Word, day and night. Meditate on the Word, the Bible, day and night. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Well, the Bible's. You can even not believe in the Bible, but you can't deny it's a great book of values. And if you walk those out, there's going to be joy. I mean, this is, you know, just take the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20, Thou shall not murder. I mean, the world would be a better place without killing each other. Like, that's kind of a good idea. You know, it's like, you shall not commit adultery. I mean, yeah, that's probably a good rule, whether you believe in it or not. That's a good one. You know, it's like, like, you know, there's a psalm that says, happier, happier those who obey the Lord's commands. And it's like, yeah, the Bible's not a book of bummers, you know, it's a book of freedom. And all the pain we wouldn't feel if we just meditate on the Lord day and night, and then we will be prosperous and successful.

It was good. And it ties into this next thought, because you mentioned successful, you mentioned wealth. And I think that we see this. When I did the research for the first book, Wealth Habits, we did a bunch of research about people that acquired money and acquired wealth and how they felt broke and bankrupt, even though to the world they had all of this. You know, it's the story that we've all probably heard one, where someone has it all and then they commit suicide. Or they just completely, like, go, like, what is that? That we are either not acknowledging that we're ignoring. What is that? That you can acquire everything that the world says that you should and still feel so broken and bankrupt inside.

This is so good because this is literally what the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible is about. Ecclesiastes is a book that King Solomon wrote. Who is the wisest man who ever lived? The Bible says, and the whole book of Ecclesiastes is about Solomon trying to find. Find purpose. And he goes, man, I've tried money. Nope, that's not it. I've tried women. That's not it. Relationship. I've tried fun, enjoyment, entertainment. Like, he goes, I've tried every. He goes, I've denied myself Nothing under the sun. I've tried it. All right? That's what we do. It's like you ever heard the. This story. It's about how, you know, how hunters hunt wolves in the snow. And the story is. I don't even know if it's real, but it's great. It's a great story. But the story is the hunter takes his knife blade and he coats it with animal blood and then he freezes it. And then he coats it with another layer of animal blood. And then he freezes it a second time. And then he coats it with a third layer of animal blood and he freezes it the third time. And then it's in the middle of the night and he goes out and he sticks the knife in the ground, but with the blade facing up. And he goes to bed. And then the wolf, he starts to smell animal blood and he thinks this is an animal. So he goes over and he starts licking on the blade. And he gets through the first layer of ice and tastes the blood and he's like, oh, yeah, baby, yeah, that's good stuff. And then he starts licking more feverishly and faster through the second layer of ice and gets to the second layer of blood and he's like, woo. And all of a sudden he gets to the third layer and now he's licking the keen edge of the knife blade. Doesn't know it, and he's lacerating his mouth all open and he's tasting the blood. Think it's the animal blood, but he's drinking his own blood now and he dies. So I told you, it's a great story. That's what we do. We go money, lick, lick, lick. Relationships. We go drugs, gotta keep up, man. I better take a hit. I better, I better use Adderall all day or coke. I gotta keep up, man. I'm burning it on both end. And what happens is we're looking for purpose and, but, but we're, we're looking in all the wrong places. We're trying to, we're trying to find purpose in success. We're trying to find purpose in wealth. We're trying to find purpose in a woman or man. We're trying to find purpose, you know, in pleasure or whatever, whatever it is. And, and, and in essence, we're licking the knife blade. And eventually we realize, like, this is all just leading to death. And, and, and money, you know, money is not bad. You know, money's a neutral, right? So like for everybody that has or has none, like, money is neutral. Money can Be used for bad and it can be used for good. The people who find the most purpose and joy in life use their money for good. In other words, to bless others. That you're blessed to be a blessing. If you're just taking in, you're just a money glutton, by the way, you're miserable. And that's what the word miser comes from. A miser. You're miserable. Miser is like, I'm selfish. I'm stockpiling, I'm storing. I'm in the Bible. What I do with all that, I'll build bigger barns. You're miserable. I keep building. Keep. But it's not that you. I. I had a. An interview with Red Run from Run dmc. I interviewed him on my stage at church in year three in 2013. And of course, you know, rev run. Run DMC. He goes, I was asking him how he found Christ and he goes, well, my top was my bottom. And I said, tell me. And he goes, I had everything. I had everything. I had all the money, you can imagine. I had all the women. I had everything. I'm sitting in my bathtub with a pile of weed on the bathtub. I'm smoking out. And he's like, that's when I got saved. He goes, my top. I had everything and I had nothing. And I. Right there by myself, nobody in the room, like, I just like, Jesus, I want a relationship with you. But, but he, but he said this statement and, and this is like one of those statements that just hit. He said, it's okay to have stuff as long as stuff doesn't have you. How do you. How do you know it's okay to have stuff? Fancy cars and, you know, the, the, the nice homes and, you know, if you do really well, you're like, man, I'm gonna get me some Louis Vuittons. If I, if I do really, really well, I'm. Get me, you know, a, A Bentley or I'm gonna get me a Rolls Royce, a Cullinan. Come on, somebody. I'm gonna get me a colon. I got accused for having a colon. And I don't. I have a Toyota Tundra. But if anybody wants to give me a colon, and I would be happy to be accused of having a colon. But like, you know, you, you do really well and you get stuff. It's okay to have stuff. It is. As long as stuff doesn't have you. Well, how do you know if stuff has you? Look at your generosity, look at your giving out, not just your taking in, right? And and because you're going to get to the end of your life. We all are. I am. We're going to be on our deathbed one day, and we're not going to be like, hey, babe. You know, Natalie, one more time before I take my last breath. Can I see my bank account? Can I see? Can I. I need the trust. You know, the trust app, so I can look at my trust. You know what? You know all those awards I received? Could you bring them? I just want to stare at them for a minute like none of it cares. And we work our whole lives for this stuff. And then you're like, why? Like, why? What's the purpose? I'm rambling, but I'm thinking about the Dead Sea. And I'm thinking about the Dead Sea, because the Dead Sea is dead. Dead. Nothing can live in the dead sea. It's 33% salinity. That's a lot of salt, man. The Pacific Ocean is 3%. Imagine, 33%. It's dead. Why is it dead? It's dead. No plant life can live in it. No sea life can live in it. It's the Dead Sea. Great name for something that everything dead can't. So the why, though, the why is because it has a fresh water running in the Jordan river is running into it, but it's got no rivers running out, no outlet. It's just, give me, give me, give me, take, take, take, consume, consume, consume. And what you consume ends up consuming you.

Oh, so good. And I think it's. Why is it that as humans, it's like we have to scratch the itch. We have to get the bag, we have to get the car, we have to get the bigger house. Especially coming from nothing, right? We often have to do that. And then it's like, I can speak personally and I can talk about people who've done it. It's like, you gotta get. You get the car. And within five minutes, that feeling dies. I have had more fulfillment, happiness and joy from driving that car off the lot. Five minutes, maybe five days, maybe. I've never had it happen, but I've heard it can happen for as long as five days. But walking up behind someone and Sam's Club or the grocery store and swipe in your credit card so that they don't have to pay. Yes, that I remember. Yes, that feeling stays. Starting a nonprofit, donating a building, that stays.

Yes.

There's something about that. Until I think you feel it, you can't quite understand that none of that stuff is going to fill you up. But yet, as humans, we still forget about it. I'm guilty of it, where I still forget about it. And I'm like, well, let me go do this. Because it's what society is doing and what you should do to kind of like, show that you've made it.

Yes.

And it's like, what the heck did I do that for? That didn't give me any happiness.

And then what did it do for the other people? Did it inspire them or did it.

You know, it perpetuates the same problem. So now they think that they need to go do.

That's right.

In order to have happiness.

That's right.

And it's the complete opposite.

It's the complete opposite. And. And I love that you said that about, like, yeah, paying for somebody. Like, everybody can do something. You might not be, you know, incredibly wealthy. You might be. You. You might. You might. You might be making ends meet, but you can always do something, whether it's time, whether it's talents, whether it's treasures. I. You know, I was. I was thinking about my mom. So my mom, much like yours, my mom had me at 16. I remember being. I was probably 13, 14. One of my best friends, you know, his dad's a successful business guy. Another friend. His dad's a football coach and a restaurant owner and another friend, he's a pilot. And like, I was like, this is my mom working four jobs, waiting tables, you know, just make it. She's 16. When she had. I remember in. In my teen years, I went to my mom and I go, mama, you should go back to high school. And like, she never got her ged. And I said, and then you should go to college. And she's like, well, why. Why are you saying that, baby? And I said, well, I just see, you know, my friends and what. She goes, I like what I do. And she goes, maybe someday I will do that. But right now, the flexibility and the jobs that I have allows me to be at every single one of your games. And I played a lot of them, basketball, football, baseball, all year round. Since I was a little boy. My mother never missed a game ever, and was at most of my practices. Road games, home games, didn't matter. Out of state games. Mama was there. Then when the kids, me and my sisters, got older, my mom got her GED and then around 40 years old, went back and got her college degree and doesn't even need it. It's just to do it, you know? But it's like those are the things, the priorities. Like, what was she doing for me, she's saying, I'm putting off my life to help give you yours. And I think that's the secret sauce of life. You know, I got my first royalty. Yeah, I did. I know. And I was like. And. And, you know, I was like, that's cool. I. I've never had a. A substantial book royalty. And. And then I went to Natalie and I go, hey, my wife. And I said, I have a question. And I'm going to tell you this, because I'm actually going to do this tomorrow, and by the time this airs, it will already be done, but they don't know what's happening. But there. There's. There's three individuals that work their butts off with me on getting this book out. That. That. I said, I want to take that and divide it. Divide it and give it to them. And ask my wife, do you. Is that cool with you? And she's like, of course. You know, and. And. And it's a sizable royalty. It's. We're not talking a hundred dollars or something like that would be easy to give away, right?

Of course.

Yeah.

Right.

And even that. I'm a pastor and I'm human, and one day I'm like, I'm not doing it. Next day I'm like, why don't I make it less, like, you know, and, like, just give it away, man, they work their tails off to make this thing come about. Not for me. For you. Yeah, for the listeners.

And what would that. Like, I think until people have done that, you don't realize that. Could you take it, cut it in half, put some in crypto or whatever, you know, and put. Give them the other. But I just think that always you'd be. I. For me. For me, I always would go back to that. Like, if you had that gut instinct to do it, and then you try to rationalize all the reasons why you shouldn't. Yeah, I've personally, you got to go with the gut instinct of what you're supposed to do, because that will pay dividends that you can't even measure.

I love what you said when I podcasted you. You talked about how, you know, intellect versus instinct, sometimes we allow our intellect, but that instinct, it's probably right. Yeah, it's probably right. And then when it comes to blessing others, it's always right. Like Jesus said in Acts, he said, it's more blessed to give than it is to receive. Well, yeah, but you're right. Same thing, man. You know, you and I grew up with pot. We're in poverty so we get to where we can do okay and we're like, I'm buying that and I'm buying that. And man, I never had that. So I'm buying 18 of those. And like, and you realize it's like. But that didn't make me any happier, right? None of it. So like, what makes us. I'm not, I'm not saying money can't give you opportunities that you wouldn't otherwise have. But, but what do those opportunities create, right? Like, like we get to go on some vacations as a family. It's about the family. And yeah, the vacation, the trip, it's fun, but it's the family time. That's what mattered. And I just think for especially your audience, your listeners, because there's so many people that are successful, they're crushing it. Business owners, crushing it. Who are probably, hey, you might be thinking about right now taking your life. And by the whole world looks at you like you're the man or you're the woman you're crushing. But you know deep down inside, like, no, I'm crushed. And I would just tell you that that's a lie of the enemy. Like God gave you life. There's a purpose for your life if you learn to flip the thing upside down. See, the world is about a king. The world is about power. The world is about serve me self, serve me self service. Where Jesus came around, who is the king of all kings. And he goes, I didn't come to serve, to be served. I came to serve. But it's that non stop. Like giving out, giving out, giving out, giving out. Like lay your life down right for those that you love. And I don't even know how we got off on this topic, but it feels right. Doesn't feel. It feels right. It feels like if we could learn to stop licking those knife blades of life and stop being dead sea business owners dead. Like find something as a business that you believe in and give to it consistently. Not once all the. Let it become a part of you. Not, you know, one time as a human too. Right? It might be a church, it might be a missions program. It might be, I don't know, whatever, feeding the homeless, whatever it is, it might be a rehab like, like man people. When we realize true living. Okay, I got a story. I got to tell this story.

Tell it.

This is such a good story. Okay, first of all, I'll end with the. The punchline. True living comes from giving.

I would agree with that.

Okay. Not getting so my best friend's little sister. This was, you know, 15 something years, 17 years ago. My best friend's younger sister at the time, she was 27 or 28 years old. Her name is Christina. She was a triathlete, a student at Gonzaga Law, gonna be a law lawyer from Gonzaga University, or Gonzaga, however you say that. And she got diagnosed with cancer and she lived four months and passed away. We were all devastated. They all are up in Spokane, Washington, and, And I'm in Phoenix, Arizona. So I've got to book a last minute flight from Phoenix to Spokane. I'm crushed. I. I don't feel like doing this. I, I mean, I want to be there, but I don't feel like traveling and all that, so. And of course I, I have to book a Southwest ticket. They're the only ones that had the flight to get me there in time. And so I'm like, you know, I got like the last ticket on the plane, which means I'm going to be on the last board. I'm on boarding group Z or something.

Like, you're gonna be by the bathroom.

I'm gonna be in the back by the bathrooms, right?

Yeah.

So I'm like this. Just that. So I get in the back, I'm by the back, the plane's packed. I'm like, God, I do not. And I repeat, Lord, I do not want somebody sitting by me. Amen. Like, I know. I'm a pastor. Yes, yes, yes. If I've ever done anything for you, Lord, please let this be the. And so I'm sitting there and you know, I got my headphones on, I got my hat low because I'm like, I don't want to be bothered. I'm signaling, don't bother me. And nobody's getting on the plane. And I'm like, yes. It's like that five minute window where nobody's getting on. And I'm like, lord, let like, let's go, Lord. And then right before they shut the door, this brother walked on the plane. I mean, big dude, Jack dude. He's got a flat billed hat, turn cockeyed, says club something or another. He's got gold chains. I know there's one seat on this plane and it's right by me, right? And I'm like, this is this, this is God's sense of humor for Travis Hearn. Like, like, lord, I just prayed this. But you did the opposite. You couldn't even send a teeny little, like, you know, like little skinny little thing to sit, like, quiet. And no, this guy's walking up the aisles like, hey, how you doing? He's, like, flirting with the girls, you know? And, I mean, he's loud. He's flaming. I'm like, no, Lord. He gets to the bike, he sits next to me, and he leans over, and he goes, hey. Like. Like. Like really loud. And so I kind of side eye him, and he goes, what's your name? You know? And I mean, the whole plank could hear. And so I go. I pull. I pull my headphone open like this. And I. And I go quiet. Because you. You know, you learn this in sales, right? If I bring it down, he'll come down. Oh, no, none of that. None of that. So I go. I go, hey, how you doing? I'm. I'm Travis, you know, And. And he. And he. And he's like, nice to meet you, Travis. Like, real loud. And he goes. And then I put my headphone back on, and I look back for it, and he goes, hey. He's like, ask me mine, right? And, like, this is crazy. I'm broken. I'm crushed. Like, I just want to. I just want to have my moment of sadness. And, like. And so now I got to play this game with this dude. And I looked at him, and I go, what's your name? And I'm not kidding you, Candy. Loud and proud. He goes, crocodile.

What is happening?

I was like. I said, do I say, nice to meet you, crocodile. So I go. I says, nice to meet you, crocodile. And he. He goes, ask me why? This is the plane, right? We haven't even lifted off yet, right?

Oh, my God.

And. And I go, why? And he goes, because, baby boy, Crocodile's gonna make you smile. I'm like, this is. This is a dream. This is not happening. I am hallucinating, because I'm tired and sad. And so anyway, we. We start talking, and now we talk for two hours on the flight. And so the things I'm learning. Okay, he's Mike Tyson's trainer. He rips up his sleeve, and he's got a big old Mike Tyson tattoo that says Team Tyson. So now he's telling me stories about Mike and stories about being a part of the entourage and. And about training Mike and about going on planes to, you know, all these overseas places and private jets. And he's telling me all this stuff, and then he. And then he says. He says, man, I remember this one time we were on this plane, man, we had. You know, we had all the money and all the food and, you know, the women, and, you know, he's talking like this. I said, yeah. And he's like, yeah. It's like, man, I looked at Mike and said, mike, we're living now, Mike. And. And. And I said. I said, that's crazy. And I said, I have a question, though. So do you still think, like, that's living? And he's like, what do you mean? And I said, well, because I think true living comes from giving. Not fancy foods and jets, and I think those are fun. I'm not saying that's not fun, but, like, it's from giving, you know, Then. Then it got real. And crocodile, if you're out there, I'd love to hear from you again because it's been a long time. But. But. But he was such a great dude, and he was telling me his life story like, I went to prison, you know, And I was like, you went to prison? He's like, yeah. I said, why? And he goes, manslaughter. And I'm like, oh, boy, Lord. Like, what have you done to me? And. And. And so then I'm like, okay, well, you know, because. Because he said. He went. For 20 years. I knew it was. Something was bad, right? Something. Yeah, like, you didn't go for, you know. Yeah, yeah. Marijuana possession or something, like back in the day. So he. He says, you know, manslaughter. And he goes, but, you know, he's like, you know, I. I deserved it. He's like, but we. We. There was a girl that was getting beat up, a friend of ours by another dude. And me and my friend went. We were just going to beat him up, but. But, you know, but took his life. And. And so. So then it turns into, like, you know, we're talking about church, and we're talking about Jesus, and we're talking about prayer, and he's talking about how his grandma raised him in church. And. But then, you know. But then, I don't know. I've tried this religion. I've tried that. Real is we're getting. We're about to land. So I'm texting Natalie all of this, and she's like, travis, do not give him your number. Like, she's like, I'm Googling him. She's like, he's definitely his trainer and all this stuff. And so we land, you know, and he's like, pastor, man, I've enjoyed my time so much. He's like, man, can I get your number? I'm like, of course, man. Like, I don't want to die. You can have my number. And. But all that to say that, like, first of all, you never know what's on the other side of somebody's face. And I had a mentor tell me when I was in my 20s, before I walked into my first pro athlete locker room, he said, hey, Travis, before you walk in, there he goes, just know this. Behind every face, behind every face, there's a drama unfolding. And I think about that, like, how many people around us do we know that? We just go, hey, how you doing? Good. But it's not good. Yeah, there's drama unfolding and looking for ways to give to them. Not, not, not money, but like, time, talent, treasure, a listening ear, comfort, prayer. That's where I find that whether you have a little or you have a lot, that's all. That's all here. Neither here nor there. It's. It's about. It's about meeting the needs of people. And true living come. Comes from giving.

And it's only if we would do that quicker.

Right.

Like, I feel like we. We hear that in context and we think, okay, he's right. Travis is right, I think. But then we get sucked right back in to the world. And I'll tell you, I've done a lot of cool stuff, a lot of made a lot of mistakes. The happiest that I ever am is when I'm actually either helping someone, serving someone, giving something. You know, Anthony and I kind of decided not to do Christmas presents, and we were going to pick family. And so we, you know, reached out to you, and you connected us to the right people. And that, to me, was the coolest thing.

Yes.

Like, seeing all those gifts that were given to, like, four families, that, like, that's way cooler than anything. I'm going to get that. I'm not even gonna remember. Like, and I think sometimes, like, we forget that. And it's like you have to make that a habit. It's like making giving is a habit. Because I think the world is teaching us to get through consumerism, through marketing, through all of that stuff. Like, oh, you need this next thing to be significant. You need this next thing to look whatever you want to look. And it's like, man, the happiest I've ever been in my life is when I do stuff like that.

Yeah.

You know, it's. Yes, I did 62 charity events for nonprofit. Didn't make a dime. Cost me money, cost me everything. And it's like they were the happiest moments. And I didn't make a dime. I didn't get a dime. I didn't benefit in any way. And so I just think, I love that I, I think that that's so important. I wish we did it sooner.

I think too, it's about like the message, giving it. Like you. And I podcasted you as well. I podcasted you. Well, you, you have, you have stories, messages, hurts, pains, trauma. Giving that away is, it's like, it's like Paul said in the Bible, I pour myself out like a drink offering. It's like when you pour out your, your life, your every, every drip, every drop, God supernaturally fills it back up. That, that's where I find, like there's sometimes I'm talking to people and, you know, I feel goosebumps all over my body or I, I feel tears coming to my eyes just because maybe I said something nice, which is a little bit out of normal for me because, like, I gotta really try to be nice. And like, and I'm like, man, I say something nice and I can feel my, my body reacts to it physically from a physiological standpoint. If, if I'm at Costco and I'd be paying for somebody's, I would, I would feel that, that, that, that, that feeling's incredible. But the message, you know, for me is, and I'll end with this story because when you, when you go back to the fire is for you. That's what I'm saying. True living is, is from giving. It's like I'm, I'm, I'm giving this message away. Like, we just, we sell it on Amazon, but like we just got, you know, 28,000 books so far that, that people bought through a bulk's book situation that I have that we're doing this, this thing called Books for the broken, right? Because my thing was my wife. How many Natalie Hearns are in a hospital room right now and they're told that their husband's not going to make it, their child's not going to make it. I want them to have this because this isn't just my story. It's a message of hope. What do you do in those times? There's hope. There's always hope. Hope is like a drug, man. It's like, dude, I, I need hope, right? And I, like, I, everybody said this. I'm not the first one, but like, I'm a hope dealer. Like, that's what I am. I'm a hope dealer. Rick Warren says, Pastor Rick Warren, he goes, you can live, what is it, 40 day, 40 days without food, 7 days without water. But you can't live a single second without hope. Like the Chicago or the LA Tribune interviewed me about this Book. And they go, if. If you could sum it up in one thought. What are you trying to do with it? And I said, give hope. Like, we got to have hope. So. So. So the idea of hope. But so. So. So we. We've had donors come in and go boom, boom, boom, boom. Because we're giving it for free to. We're starting with Arizona. Every fire station in Arizona, every police station, every hospital, every er, every level one trauma center, every drug rehab, every alcohol, every. Every, you know, neurological, which I went through rehab. We're going around the Valley as a church. That's the army. That's the distribution center, is the church. And we're going, here's some books. Here's some books. Here's some books. The idea is that somebody else paid for them, and we're giving them to you. And that money, by the way, I don't make any money on it. $0. So books for the broken. If you want to give to it, it's on travishearn.com. that's a $5 book. And then you pay the money, five bucks. The book gets shipped to the church. We give it away. So if you want your own copy, you can go to Amazon or whatever. Yeah. Get a royalty on that one. But the point is to give it. I hope that there's a million people that get this book for free, that it helps them. Because now I'm not the Dead Sea. Now it's like, yeah, I went through something, but now the fire goes to me. But now out and through me, and that it. And that it helps us. And so, you know, the. The final story that I have personally about the book is on Wednesday, I'm getting tested, you know, on the hour, every hour, about. About. Like, I can't talk. I can't walk. I can't lift my hand. I can't. So they come in and. And they do stroke tests, and they go, touch your nose. And so, you know, you're. You're just kind of like, I can't. What day is it? I don't know. What year is it? I don't know. What month is it? What. What's your wife's name? What's your name? I don't know anything. They say, what's your children's names? And. And I say, 40. And I don't know. Something down in me, like, I can't talk. But I said, 40. And. And something in me knew, like, this is not good. And then I looked up at Natalie with tears in my eyes. She had tears, and I Said, said as plain as day. Remember, I can't talk. I said, as plain as day. I said, count it all joy. And the medical worker goes, what did he just say? And Natalie said, and she's weeping. And she said, he just said, count it all joy, which is a Bible verse from the Book of James, chapter one, verse two, that says, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. And let patience have its work in you that you may. It's perfect work in you that you may be mature and complete. Count it all joy when you fall into various trials. Why? Because God is completing you. The fire is for you. Right? So think about this. I can't talk. I can't walk. I don't remember my own name. I don't remember my wife's name. I don't remember my children's names. I can't say it, verbalize it. But I can say, count it all joy. I can say a scripture word for word in the exact context of the situation, because this was the trial of all trials, right? Well, that's not just a cool story. That's not just a miraculous story. That. First of all, that's chapter one in the book is count it all joy. But why? Because there's so many people listening right now. They're going through trials. And the book contains the key ingredients to. To go from trials, to triumph, to take this mess, whether I got myself in it or somebody else got me in it, or it just happened by chance, and turn it into a message. A message. That's what I mean by, like, true living comes from giving. Because I think as business owners, we think of monetary, we think of, like, finance, we think of dollars. That. That's part of it. Yes, yes, yes. But it's time. It's talent, it's treasure. And part of your treasure isn't what's in your bank account. It's life experiences. Part of your treasure is pain. It's suffering, it's brokenness. Part of your treasure is your experiences, the hardships. That's the treasure, man. We never want to waste a pain. We never want to waste a pain. We never want to waste a problem. We never want to waste a valley. Like man, we're fighters. So I'm going to use it to build me, not break me. And hopefully, if it's done right, it also builds you.

Builds other people in the process.

Builds other people.

You said something towards the very end of the book, and I underlined, said, God did not bring you this Far to leave you right here. And he wouldn't see you through just to say you're through. Remember, when God's not done, God's not done. And all the forces of hell cannot stop what God has ordained for your life.

Come on.

Someone that's listening, that's going. All right, I get it. Count it. All Joy. The fire is for me, but, man, this is really hard. What do they do next? You said in the beginning, it's all in what you do next. It's what you focus on. What is the next thing, if you were going through a fire right now, that you would do next.

I love what. So coach Monte Williams is. Is one of my closest friends. He used to be the Phoenix Suns head coach. He was the coach when I went through the stroke. Monty's a man of God. He's. We. We used to say Monty isms. Like, he has all these things. He says that you're like, dude, that's good. Like, that's. He's like a pastor in disguise as a basketball coach, you know, but he used to say, everything you want in life is on the other side of hard.

So true.

Everything you want in life is on the other side of hard. And I think for those that are in the middle of that fire, knowing first of all, number one, that the fire is for you, not against you, it feels like it's going to burn you down, but it's going to build you up. It's going. The Bible says it refines you and it purifies you, just like fire purifies gold. It burns out the impurities out of our lives. Lives. It draws us closer to Jesus. That we're never as close to Christ as when we're in the middle of a crisis increases our faith. Our faith is tested, our faith is tried. But. But everything that we want in life is on the other side of hard. So you've got to do hard things. Another one. Monty used to say to his teammates, I'm not calling you out. I'm calling you up. I love that. It's like, hey, maybe God's using this to call you up. Maybe God's using this to give you a testimony, a story about God's glory. What the word of God says in Revelation 4. It says, we overcome. We overcome by the blood of the lamb, Jesus, and the word of our testimony. And so your story is not meant to be buried. It is meant to be told that that's a test. You can't have a testimony if you don't tell it. You know, you're just stuffing it and it's like you buried it. I think of the story. Jesus talked about the talents and one guy buried them. Well, you know, the other people took the talents and multiple. A talent could be your story. Don't bury it like talk about it, man. What. What girls, candy and the world need to hear the pain you went through at whatever age you went through it. That it might. How do you not waste the pain? I tell it and then it saved one girl from going through it. One girl. That's a win for me. That's a win. If I can tell my story and it saves one man, one human, one woman from getting arrested, getting a dui. If it can save one person from even trying a drug, trying heroin, it can save. Say if I could just tell any and it's one person, man, then I didn't waste it. It's worth it. It's worth the story because the fire.

Isn'T just for you, it's actually for everyone else.

Absolutely. Yeah.

So good. Where can everyone find it? Amazon. Travis Hearn.com.

Amazon, yeah.

Books for the Broken.

Travis Hearn.com is where you would go if you want to get on the books for the broken thing. But yeah, Amazon, Amazon's easy. Amazon, you can have it. I think if you order on Amazon, you'll get it yesterday.

Yeah, exactly. All right, guys, the fire is for you. Travis Hearn. Grab your coffee. As you see, I have notes everywhere, underlined. It was so good. Thank you for what you're doing. Thank you for coming on. It was such a pleasure to have you.

Thank you for having me.

Hey guys, thanks for tuning in to this episode. And if there was something that you loved or you had a specific takeaway, share it and tag me at Candy Valentino. And if you haven't already, grab a copy of my latest book, the 9% Edge Life Changing Secrets to create more revenue for your business and more freedom for yourself. You can pick it up anywhere books are sold, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or your local independent store. And once you do, head over to 9% edge.com and claim $1500 in pre order bonuses, including a chance to join me on this very show. Thanks so much for tuning in and spending this time with me today, guys. We'll see you next time.